No, George Karl has not lost his mind.
Despite postgame comments after the Nuggets’ loss to Utah on Wednesday downplaying the importance of home-court advantage in the playoffs, Karl knows it beats the alternative. But the process of earning it over the season’s last three weeks is more central to the coach’s thoughts these days.
“It’s not a priority above just playing basketball and finishing the season in a good mode, a good manner, which we’ve put ourselves in a place to do,” he said Thursday.
Denver stands a game behind Memphis, the team it would face if the playoffs began today. But a friendly schedule could help – after games at Dallas and the Los Angeles Clippers next week, the Nuggets face no team higher than seventh in the Western Conference the rest of the way.
The Grizzlies also have it easy, with seven of their last 10 against teams with losing records. But the Clippers, a game in front of Memphis, face teams at .500 or better in eight of its last 12 and closes with a tough double – at the Grizzlies and the Mavericks on consecutive nights.
“We do what we’ve got to do, handle our business, home court is right there. It’s in our hands right now,” Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony said.
Aside from earning home court, the Nuggets’ top goal will be to create as much time as possible for established players Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby to blend in with new arrivals Ruben Patterson and Reggie Evans, starting tonight against Minnesota. Martin’s left knee and two minor ailments for Camby have kept the four from developing much chemistry together.
“That’s been the big problem for us all year long,” Anthony said. “Sometimes it works. Sometimes it hasn’t worked. We never know who we’re going to have in there, who’s going to play this game, who’s going to play the next game.”
Karl continues to hold Martin, who has missed 21 games this season, to a ceiling of 25 minutes a game. The forward practiced for the first time in about three weeks Monday.
“I don’t like being restricted so I can only play five minutes at a time,” Martin said. “It’s frustrating. It’s what I have to do in order to get ready for the playoffs. So I’ve got to be a man about it and just deal with that decision, because it’s the best thing right now. … I’m not going to be satisfied in the playoffs playing 25 minutes.”
Player and coach both expect Martin’s minutes to rise over the season’s last week, though Karl sounded more cautious in how many more minutes he would dole out. He also said Martin’s health worries him less than that of forward Eduardo Najera, whose right knee still bothers him, and point guard Earl Boykins, who should miss the rest of the regular season with two broken bones in his left hand.
There is also the matter of sewing up the Northwest Division, though a combination of six Denver wins or Jazz losses would take care of that.
“Right now I think the first thing is to get the division under control – go out in the next five games and attack those five teams like we have to win those games,” Karl said. “The disappointing thing last night was we played the game like we didn’t have to win it.”
Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
